By DAVE HICKMAN / Charleston Gazette MORGANTOWN - It's not all about attitude, but it helps to start with a good one. That seems to be at least a bit of the philosophy of Joe DeForest as he tries to repair West Virginia's not-always-special special teams. A bad punt or a bad kick? Well, those can be addressed through mechanics and practice and film study and just plain old hard work. But if, as seemed to be the case more than once a year ago, those punters and/or kickers start thinking too much about their failures, well, that's often too…

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University has added another kicker to the roster. The Mountaineers announced Thursday the signing of Josh Lambert, a high school kicker and punter from Garland, Tex. He made 9 of 16 field goals last season, including a 51-yarder. WVU now has added 28 new players to the roster, including 22 signed last week and five mid-year enrollees.

By Chris Fontanazza / Metro News Soon the Mountaineers will officially add a 28th member to their 2012 recruiting class. kicker Josh Lambert from Garland High School (TX) committed to West Virginia University the day after National Signing Day and will soon be faxing his signed letter of intent to the Mountaineer coaching staff. Lambert is a 2-star kicker by Scout.com and comes from a high school that has produced a lot of solid kickers in the NCAA, including former Ray Guy Award winner and Oklahoma State kicker Matt Fodge. Garland head football coach Jeff Jordan says his program has…

By Mike Atkinson / The Daily Athenaeum It's no secret the West Virginia football team had a lot of "firsts" during the 70-33 Orange Bowl victory against Clemson on Jan. 4. It was the first time any school has scored 70 points in any bowl game, the first time anyone passed for as many yards as junior quarterback Geno Smith's 401 yards and the first time anyone has scored 10 touchdowns in a bowl game. The team had another "first" that hasn't received a lot of attention. For the first time ever in a collegiate football game, WVU kicker Tyler…

Ben Gaughan / The Daily Athenaeum As a walk-on, redshirt junior Cecil Level never doubted his ability to compete with Division I-A athletes. Coming from a small school like West Virginia Tech where he started for two years at cornerback, Level decided to transfer to West Virginia. Former WVU cornerback and assistant coach at WVU Tech, Michael Scott, brought Level to visit Morgantown and encouraged the young corner to move on because he believed Level could play on a bigger stage. Level sat and watched last year due to eligibility rules and took in everything he could from other teammates…

By Cody Smith / The Daily Athenaeum There are two scenarios in which redshirt junior Corey Smith will enter the game for West Virginia this fall. The team hopes he will make his entrance after a touchdown rather than on fourth down. The kickoff specialist and punter will be busy this fall, doing double duty for the Mountaineers for the first time in his collegiate career. He sees this as more of an opportunity than a hassle. "It's something I've done, obviously for a while," Smith said of the dual roles. "I've done it in high school and I've still…

By Jim Butta / Parkersburg News and Sentinel MORGANTOWN - During his playing days at Parkersburg South High School, Michael Molinari rarely came off the playing surface for the Patriots' football team. If the multi-sport athlete wasn't kicking the ball off, he was catching it, running with it or even stopping the other team from advancing it. And, as if that were not enough, Molinari handled all of the place-kicking duties as well as the punting for the red, white and blue. That won't be the case, however, this spring as the former Parkersburg South player will look to become…

By Mike Casazza / Daily Mail sports writer MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Daron Roberts, an assistant coach with the Detroit Lions the past two seasons, has joined the West Virginia coaching staff to coach wide receivers and work closely with special teams. Roberts, 32, will replace former wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway, who took the same job at Wake Forest earlier this month. "I am thrilled to have Daron Roberts join the West Virginia football family," said WVU offensive coordinator and coach-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen said. "He is one of the brightest and most motivated young men in our entire profession. He…